Freesat is a not-for-profit company formed by the BBC and ITV to provide free digital TV and HD TV programming in the UK - once you've made the initial purchase of a Freesat receiver the service is totally free to use. Freesat provides over 140 TV and radio channels, up to 70 hours of HD TV from the BBC and ITV HD channels and even has a digital TV recorder called freesat+ which enables recording, pausing and rewinding of live TV.
Freesat has other features very much in line with commercial services such as Sky and Virgin Media, such as an 8 day on-screen programming guide and interactive capabilities - use the red button to access news, sports and weather options (more on that below). The actual Freesat boxes start at less than £30 and are available from many high street retailers - here is just a selection...
Here are the general channels available on Freesat followed by the different categories...
On top of these channels there are 15 shopping channels, gaming, dating and adult channels as well as radio stations and local TV.
In the interactive area you can access the freesat Sport Multiscreen (pictured right) by pressing the red button. This lets you choose between a number of different sport video and text options, with up to six screens to choose between for sporting events such as Six Nations Rugby and Wimbledon. The service is available 24 hours a day, allowing you to watch what you want, when you want.
Here is a selection of Freesat free to air satellite receivers to compare...